Evidence scopes

Protecting children and young people from sexual exploitation is a challenging area of practice across all sectors, including health, education, the police and third sector organisations, as well as social care and social work.

This Evidence Scope aims to support local areas in the continual development of child sexual exploitation (CSE) services by reviewing and critically appraising relevant evidence. It brings together evidence that supports interventions and multi-agency and inter-professional approaches to working to improve outcomes for young people who may be affected by CSE.

The resource, produced by Research in Practice, was commissioned by Wigan and Rochdale councils as part of the Greater Manchester project on CSE, funded by the Department for Education Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme.

Please note. This resource was first published in September 2015 by Jan Webb and Dez Holmes. The Evidence Scope has been revised and republished in October 2017 by Jessica Eaton and Dez Holmes to reflect new evidence and practice wisdom.

This open access report, published in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau, outlines findings from a national survey of over 500 professionals combined with local research. This is the seventh research project undertaken by the Local Authorities Research Consortium (LARC).

The report examines the current knowledge, skills and confidence of the children’s workforce in relation to working with children and young people who are displaying Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB). It highlights some of the challenges, what works well to develop capabilities, and what further support may be needed.

Aimed at: Managers across the multi-agency partnership, in particular those with a role in workforce development.

Commissioned by the Department for Education and developed by Research in Practice, this open access paper reviews research on the impacts of abuse and neglect and the strengths and weaknesses of care placement options. It is intended to support local authority and judicial decision-makers to develop a shared understanding of research and make decisions that lead to stable and positive placements for children and young people.

Aimed at: All those involved in family court work, care planning and placement decisions.

This series of open access evidence scopes considers the potential relationship between neglect and forms of sexual harm and abuse: child sexual exploitation; intra-familial child sexual abuse; and harmful sexual behaviours. These different types of harm rarely exist in isolation; children need support at earlier stages - and more holistically - if we are to address their vulnerabilities and help them to achieve positive outcomes.
The scopes, commissioned by Action for Children and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) with Research in Practice, examine relatively new and emerging evidence bases to outline the characteristics and prevalence of these different forms of sexual harm and identify how they may relate to neglect. They offer conceptual models for understanding how neglect can interact with and increase vulnerability to various forms of sexual harm and abuse, as well as considering gaps in the existing knowledge base.

Each resource draws out the key messages, themes and implications for practice and policy. Rather than offering simplistic messages or assuming causality, they encourage sector leaders and practitioners to critically reflect on the evidence, to explore how this relates to their own experience and to engage with the complexity of these topics.

Aimed at: Practitioners, managers, local service leaders and commissioners, local and national policy makers.

Number of pages: 137
Preview available.The three Evidence Scopes, Executive Summary, Appendices and References are available now to download below.

This evidence scope, a collaborative effort by Sussex University and Research in Practice, was undertaken to support the thinking of colleagues within Department for Education, KPMG and their consortium partners in developing an accreditation framework for children’s social work.

It is not a systematic review. It is a rapid scope of the research relating to practice observation methods, in social work and also in other relevant professions. A 10-page Executive Summary is also available.

This is the executive summary of the full evidence scope: a collaborative effort by Sussex University and Research in Practice, was undertaken to support the thinking of colleagues within Department for Education, KPMG and their consortium partners in developing an accreditation framework for children’s social work.

It is not a systematic review. It is a rapid scope of the research relating to practice observation methods, in social work and also in other relevant professions.

A nationwide factor affecting organisations’ ability to improve practice is recruitment and retention of experienced social workers, especially in the field of child protection and family support for children in need. A recent Research in Practice briefing identified “push” factors that can lead to social workers leaving their employer.

This evidence scope sets out evidence for organisational changes to counteract some of these "push" factors, and to help social workers to focus on core elements of working with families: critical analysis in assessment; building relationship-based practice with children and families.

The requirement to have these skills is now embodied within the Knowledge and Skills Statement for child and family social work. Local authorities will need to shape their organisations to allow social workers to develop and make use of these skills.

In recent years there has been an increased use of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), with SGOs being used in a wider range of circumstances than was originally intended. This report draws on interviews with professionals in six local authorities. It focuses on changes in local authority and Cafcass professionals' perspectives of how SGOs are being used since the family justice reforms and recent court judgements compared to previously.

The Children and Families Act came into force in April 2014, introducing wide-ranging reforms to the Family Justice System. At the heart of public family law reform was a revised Public Law Outline (PLO), which introduced a 26-week timeframe for completing care proceedings. This report draws on the views and experiences of professionals in six local authorities, focusing on the impact of the family justice reforms and recent court judgements on local authority practice. It provides evidence on the positive changes that have come about as a result of the reforms, as well as the challenges in implementing the revised PLO.

This paper was commissioned by Northamptonshire County Council in March 2015 as Tailored Support for 2014-15. The brief was to outline the impact of increased population of children and young people on schools and children’s services; to investigate how Northamptonshire compares with other similar authorities; and to provide examples of how other local authorities are responding to similar challenges. The report uses secondary data sources to begin to answer these questions and makes suggestions about further local research activity to find out more.

Aimed at: Mangers and commissioners of services in children, families and education directorates. Councillors and Lead Members.